NYCHA Pomonok Houses receives $125M in capital
funding for security upgrades and compactors
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 28-SEPT. 3, 2020 5
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Assemblyman Daniel
Rosenthal has secured $125,000
in state and municipal funding
to replace long defunct compactors
and security upgrades at
NYCHA’s Pomonok Houses,
after hosting NYCHA Chair
Gregory Russ earlier this year
following a high volume of complaints
from the community.
Rosenthal was joined by Tamika
Williams, president of the
Residents Association, and Senator
Toby Ann Stavisky, who
recently submitted $250,000 for
the development-wide repairs
of exterior lights, at the Pomonok
Houses on Aug. 21.
Alongside other elected representatives
and the Resident’s
Association, Rosenthal organized
a property walkthrough
at Pomonok Houses. The stakeholders
discussed and surveyed
a litany of challenges afflicting
the 35 buildings that house
4,200 residents in total.
Among the issues raised at
the meeting were unsanitary
conditions from the accumulation
of trash due to inoperable
compactors.
“With this grant, we can
begin to tackle the hazardous
sanitation conditions faced
by residents for too far long,”
Rosenthal said. “Amid the
greatest health crisis of a century,
we cannot stand idly by
while our community is knowingly
in harm’s way.”
Another crucial focus of
the meeting was the security
concerns created from dozens
of broken outside lights, which
Senator Stavisky has identified
as one of her capital funding focuses.
Stavisky had toured Pomonok
Houses in February after
her office received numerous
complaints from residents over
deteriorating conditions and
inadequate security features.
“Because no one should
ever feel insecure or vulnerable
in their own homes and
neighborhoods, I was able to
allocate funding to help restore
exterior lighting for residents
and upgrade safety measures
throughout the Pomonok community,”
Stavisky said. “We
want the Pomonok Houses to
be considered a ‘crown jewel’
of the New York City Housing
Authority, and we need to
continue to work diligently to
improve the quality of life for
residents.”
The Pomonok Houses are
the largest concentration of
individual developments in
Queens built in 1952 utilizing
its original antiquated system
of malfunctioning equipment,
according to Williams.
“NYCHA has adopted the
practice of making small repairs
that affix ‘band-aid’
remediation while accruing
major capital expenses. Garbage
disposals, trash compactors
and containers all have
a 10 percent depreciation rate
which has far outlived its
lifespan of 10 years,” Williams
said. “Pomonk is a beautiful
community housed on a 52-acre
landscape that is riddled with
dark and gloomy areas which
are breeding grounds for crime
and vermin. While residents
are met with huge bags of garbage
at their entrances, vermin
also greet their presence, tearing
into garbage bags and feeding
on its contents.”
Williams said their goal is
to curtail major pest issues and
enhance lighting security so
residents feel safe.
“We would like to thank
our local government, Assemblyman
Daniel Rosenthal
and Senator Toby Stavisky for
not only acknowledging the
need and impact of safe and
sanitary living conditions,
but also for the commitment
to improve the quality of life
at Pomonok Houses and its
surrounding communities,”
Williams said.
Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal announces funding for security
upgrades and compactors at NYCHA Pomonok Houses on Aug. 21.
/QNS.COM
